WORKFORCE

Veteran Re-entry: Increase employment opportunities for returning veterans by eliminating duplicative requirements and expedite processes for military-trained personnel to obtain the equivalent civilian license

• Support ongoing efforts to recruit military personnel to the state to meet the workforce needs of regional employers

Mental Health Workforce Pipeline: Support incentives that increase the pipeline for social workers and mental health professionals to provide wraparound services in the criminal justice system and to provide more capacity for services in the overall healthcare system.

Smart Justice: Support strategic reform to criminal justice system to minimize jail overcrowding, recidivism, and local fical impact while maximizing rehabilitation through:

• Multiple Felony Sentencing: To reduce impact on criminal justice systems, offenders with multiple felonies should be sentenced to the Department of Correction
• Bail Consideration: Cash bond consideration must require a screening assessment and the ability to increase the bond considering severity of criminal history

Ex-Offender Re-entry: Support policies that promote reintegrating ex-offenders into the workforce and economy by:

• Minimizing business liability and increasing incentives to hire ex-offenders
• Increasing job training and skills enhancement opportunities

  • Expanding pre-release entrepreneurship education and training
  • Support funding for proven models for transitional employment and wrap-around services including access to housing and transportation

Workplace Accommodations: Update employer guidance on reasonable accommodations for employees with medical conditions relating to pregnancy to provide needed clarity to employers, allow for expedient resolution of grievances, and improve maternal health and female workforce participation

Social Determinants of Health: Increase strategic investments in public health, prevention, and social determinants to support talent-based economic development. Continue data collection efforts by the state on social determinants of health and unmet needs of government benefit recipients

HIGHER EDUCATION

Reverse Credit: Support permitting specific course credit to be transferable and reciprocal between Indiana’s accredited two-year schools and other state-supported colleges and universities to encourage post-secondary certification and degree attainment statewide

21^st Century Scholars: Enhance outreach and wraparound services and evaluate sustainable funding mechanisms for programs, such as the 21^st Century Scholars program, in order to increase access to and completion rates at two- and four-year colleges and universities for those with financial need

EDUCATION

Early Childhood Education: Ensure children entering primary (K-12) education are academically, socially and emotionally prepared for success through high-quality, publicly-funded Pre-K programs; increased public investments should focus on those in financial need and support statewide access, while protecting funding and service levels in high-demand, high-capacity ‘pilot’ counties. Further, enact mandatory, fully-funded, full-day kindergarten by age 5 to create a consistent, quality early education pathway

School Safety & Mental Health: Allow public school funding for school resource officers and school safety referenda funding to be used to hire mental health program staff

STEM: Support dedicated funding and policies to deploy high-quality classroom science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curricula and STEM-focused professional development for the educators. Specifically, emphasize access to computer science and engineering courses at the K-12 level to prepare graduates for college and career opportunities in high-demand STEM fields

Explore the creation of incentives to retain recent STEM-degreed individuals committed to remaining in-state for five years, with an emphasis on those graduates who enter the teaching profession.

High school Career Counselors:

• Decrease the student-to-counselor ratio, require regular professional development for school counselors and ensure academic coursework align with students’ desired career pathways
• Explore modification of counselor licensure to differentiate career counseling from social/emotional counseling
• Require school counselors to advise students in middle school (6^th, 7^th and 8^th grades) of their eligibility to enroll in various state financial aid programs

Required FAFSA Completion: Support matriculation to post-secondary educational institutions by making FAFSA completion or affirmative opt-out a requirement of high school graduation

Autonomy: Provide school districts flexibility to pay teachers based on high need and specialized subject matter areas. Empower local education officials to make administrative and structural decisions affecting individual school performance, including the option to extend school hours, merit pay options, providing voluntary alternative retirement benefits options such as defined contribution plans for new teachers

Operational Efficiency & Facilities: Support school corporation’s operational efficiency efforts by creating a 5-year, renewable exemption to the “Dollar Law” for school corporations that meet the following criteria:

• Proven willingness and ability to partner with charter schools as demonstrated by:

  • 20% of school corporation’s student population attending innovation network school or innovation network charter schools
  • Equitable distribution of district operating referendum dollars to all innovation network schools, both in-LEA innovation network schools and out-of-LEA innovation network charter schools

• Proven overcapacity of facilities within the district as demonstrated by independent analysis and verification
• Commitment to address operational efficiencies as demonstrated by:

  • Undergoing strategic facilities optimization study on current and future population/enrollment projections
  • Implementation of strategic operational efficiency plans through strategic disposition of the properties previously subject to the dollar law

School Funding: Support the inclusion of the second count date for the k-12 funding formula to ensure schools are able to adequately accommodate changing student populations throughout the school year

Teacher Pay: Support efforts to increase teacher pay from the state to local school districts

Charter Authority: Expand the authority of the Mayor of Indianapolis to charter Pre-K educational institutions and require local public hearings for the re-chartering of schools attempting to switch charter authorizers after a charter has been revoked 

Financial Literacy: Promote financial literacy education through existing k-12 curriculum requirements and encourage the DOE to develop sample curriculum for local schools to implement